The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has ordered the liquidation of Gitanjali Gems promoted by fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi.
This came after the company’s committee of creditors (CoC) had in their meeting on April 2019 resolved to liquidate the debtor by a majority of 90.16 per cent voting in favour.
The creditors had felt that they had poor chances of insolvency resolution and attachment of the company’s assets by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Gitanjali Gems was admitted under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) on October 8, 2018 and it reportedly has liabilities of over Rs 12,550 crore.
“The CoC with requisite voting..has approved the liquidation of corporate debtor in view of bleak chances of receiving any resolution plan.
This tribunal has very limited powers of judicial review in such matters of commercial wisdom’’, the division bench of Anil Raj Chellan, technical member, and Kuldip Kumar Kareer, judicial member, said in their order on February 7.
The tribunal, while ordering the liquidation of Gitanjali Gems in terms of Section 33(2) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, appointed Santanu T. Ray as the liquidator.
